Alexander McCall Smith, página 4 de 11

Author Alexander McCall Smith became a worldwide sensation with his No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency novels. His award-winning wit is fully on display in this charming work. Here, in delightfully authentic sketches, are all the archetypes of Edinburgh society. There is the surveyor who dreams of a membership in Muirfield golf club. There is the pushy Stockbridge mother. There is the intellectual lady who sees herself as part of a much larger world. These characters and more confront issues of trust, love, and loss.

En Botswana nunca había habido una mujer detective... hasta el día en que Mma Ramotswe decide abrir su pequeña oficina al pie del monte Kgale, cerca del desierto de Kalahari. Le basta con unas sillas, dos mesas, un telefono y una secretaria... ademas de unas tazas para invitar a los clientes a tomar un te. ¿Que otra cosa se requiere para resolver misterios? Al fin y al cabo, ¿no se han dedicado siempre las mujeres a escuchar y a intentar solucionar los problemas de los demas frente a una taza de te? Mma Ramotswe no es una ironica intelectual ni una aguerrida ex policia, sino una mujer alegre y rolliza, cargada de sentido comun y con un firme deseo de ayudar al projimo. En su opinion, muchas personas no saben distinguir el bien del mal, y hay que enseñarles la diferencia. Huerfana, superviviente de un matrimonio infernal y madre por solo cinco dias, esta Miss Marple africana sabe reconocer el dolor ajeno, y quiere contribuir a aliviarlo. Sus metodos son tal vez poco ortodoxos, pero tambien lo son sus casos, asi como sus atribulados clientes. Con sus acertadas descripciones y sus sensatos comentarios, la protagonista de esta novela nos introduce paso a paso en la realidad de un pais lejano y desconocido, donde la teconologia convive con las tradiciones magicas, y donde resulta mas facil conocer las noticias de boca de las vecinas que leyendo la prensa.

Mma Ramostwe's friend will persuade her to stand for election to the City Council. 'We need women like her in politics,' Mma Potokwani says, 'instead of having the same old men every time . . .' To be elected, Mma Ramotswe must have a platform and some policies. She will have to canvas opinion. She will have to get Mma Makutsi's views. Her slogan is 'I can't promise anything - but I shall do my best'. Her intention is to halt the construction of the Big Fun Hotel, a dubious, flashy hotel near a graveyard - an act that many consider to be disrespectful. Mma Ramotswe will take the campaign as far as she can, but lurking around the corner, as ever, is the inextinguishable Violet Sephotho.

Hijas descarriadas. Maridos desaparecidos. Infidelidades y ligues… Ningún problema, aunque parezca insoluble, se resiste a Precious Ramotswe, la mejor -y la única- mujer detective de Botswana… Una original Miss Marple a la africana, armada tan sólo con su ingenio, su intuición y su sentido común para enfrentarse a los enigmas que le plantean sus clientes… Precious va a necesitar todas sus habilidades -y las de su amigo J.L.B. Matekoni- para seguir el rastro de un niño que ha desaparecido… Una novela con el ritmo vital de África: reposada, entrañable y subyugante…

En su segunda aventura, la detective Precious Ramotswe deberá poner a prueba toda su intuición y su sensibilidad para resolver su caso más complicado: la desaparición de un americano en los límites del Kalahari… Pero, además, Precious debe atender a las preocupaciones, más cercanas, de su propio hogar: la promoción de su secretaria Mma Makutsi a la mareante posición de detective auxiliar, su inminente boda con el maravilloso J.L.B. Matekoni, el problema causado por la falta de escrúpulos de su criada y la llegada inesperada no de una sino de dos adiciones a la familia Matekoni…Una trama original para una novela diferente, que nos muestra un continente africano alejado de los clichés.

Even the arrival of her baby can't hold Mma Makutsi back from success in the workplace, and so no sooner than she becomes a full partner in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency - in spite of Mma Ramotswe's belated claims that she is only 'an assistant full partner' - she also launches a new enterprise of her own: the Handsome Man's De Luxe Cafe. Grace Makutsi is a lady with a business plan,but who could predict temperamental chefs, drunken waiters and more? Luckily, help is at hand, from the only person in Gaborone more gently determined than Mma Makutsi ...Mma Ramotswe, of course.

Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize 2019The School Ship Tobermory and its intrepid young crew are back in Hebridean waters. When a violent storm blows them off course to a remote island, they discover a fisherman's journal written a hundred years ago which tells of a mysterious shipwreck crammed with treasure. But without a precise location, where do they start looking? An extraordinary chance encounter gives them a valuable clue.Before long, Ben, Fee and their friends realize they are not the only ones searching for the lost wreck and must face a ruthless and determined adversary who will stop at nothing to seize the prize.

The Perfect Passion Dating Company at No 24 Mouse Lane in Edinburgh s New Town is run by Katie Donald who has an innate instinct for bringing people together She has developed a skill for finding out what it is that people really want Along the way Katie learns profound lessons about her own desires as she works at better understanding others Although Katie has little in the way of direct experience with the help of her amiable and handsome office neighbour William Kidd she soon finds herself making matches for the lonely hearts tired of meeting online and who want a more personal touch For fans of Alexander McCall Smith s many beloved series and romantic standalone novels The Perfect Passion Company shows him at his most perceptive playful and generous In the way that only McCall Smith can this novel offers a glimpse inside the psychology of matchmaking the search for love and companionship and the mysterious spark of attraction that can at times catch hold of us all Two stories that wind their way into this wonderful novel were previously available in different forms as e book only shorts

Hay mucho trabajo en la Primera Agencia de Mujeres Detectives, pero Mma Ramotswe no puede ignorar los ruegos de una mujer en una situación desesperada. Precious Ramotswe, la alegre investigadora privada de complexion tradicional, se ha casado finalmente con el señor J.L.B. Matekoni, propietario del taller de reparaciones Speedy Motors. Viven en Gaborone, la capital de Botswana, y juntos forman una pareja nada convencional. Hay mucho trabajo en la Primera Agencia de Mujeres Detectives, pero Mma Ramotswe no puede ignorar los ruegos de una mujer en una situacion desesperada. Desgraciadamente, sus intentos por ayudarla son interrumpidos por una espectacular pelea entre su asistente, Mma Makutsi, y uno de los jovenes aprendices del taller de su esposo. ¿Como se puede rescatar a este muchacho de la pasion que siente por una novia caprichosa que conduce un Mercedes Benz? Fortalecida por muchas tazas de te roiboos, Mma Ramotswe esta decidida a encontrar las respuestas. La serie africana de Alexander McCall Smith, autor de impresionante exito en todo el mundo, invita al lector a sumergirse en lo mas profundo de Africa, a disfrutar de sus gentes, de sus sabores y olores, de las costumbres exoticas que, bien miradas, no son tan diferentes de las nuestras

Book 25 in the multi million copy bestselling and perennially adored No 1 Ladies Detective Agency series

Catch up on the latest from Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and other favourites in this new instalment of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series."Mma Ramotswe is a glorious creation" Mail on SundayMma Ramotswe knows she is very lucky indeed. She has a loving family, good friends and a thriving business doing what she enjoys most: helping people. But the latest mystery she is called upon to solve is distinctly trickier than it initially appears, and, of course, there's plenty to handle in her personal life between Charlie and his new bride and Mma Makutsi and her talking shoes.In the end, Mma Ramotswe's patience and common-sense will win out, and, without a doubt, all will be the better for it."Full of delight" Sunday Herald"Hugely enjoyable" Sunday Times

A man with a tree growing out of his head? A woman with children made of wax? A bird that can be milked? With more stories from his original celebration of African folktales, "The Girl Who Married A Lion", let Alexander McCall Smith once again take you to a land where the bizarre is everyday and magic is real.

A return to 44 Scotland Street . . .

It is 1938 and the final days of the British Empire. In a bungalow high up in the green hills above the plains of Ceylon, under a vast blue sky, live the Ferguson family: Bella, a precocious eight-year-old; her father Henry - owner of Pitlochry, a tea plantation - and her mother Virginia. The story centres around the Pavilion in the Clouds, set in the idyllic grounds carved out of the wilderness. But all is not as serene as it seems. Bella is suspicious of her governess, Miss White's intentions. Her suspicion sparks off her mother's imagination and after an unfortunate series of events, a confrontation is had with Miss White and a gunshot rings off around the hills.Years later, Bella, now living back in Scotland at university in St Andrews, is faced, once again with her past. Will she at last find out what happened between her Father and Miss White? And will the guilt she has lived with all these years be reconciled by a long over-due apology?

The latest instalment from the beloved THE NO. 1 LADIES' DETECTIVE AGENCY seriesCatch up on the latest from Mma Ramotswe, Mma Makutsi and other favourites in this new instalment of Alexander McCall Smith's The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series.As the temperature rises in Gaborone, Precious Ramotswe, founder of the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, wonders whether the heat could be the reason that business is particularly slow. Luckily, a slower pace in life is her natural preference, unlike her colleague Mma Makutsi, who is alert to every passing observation and inclined to making snap decisions.With fewer cases to handle, Precious has time to contemplate her new neighbours, a couple who, by the sounds of it, have a rather volatile relationship . . .But then a distant cousin of Mma Ramotswe's comes to the agency with a plea for help, and the ladies decide to pursue the issue together. Armed with Mma Ramotswe's circumspection and Mma Makutsi's sharp eye, they proceed with confidence and open hearts. What, after all, could be more straightforward than a family matter?Meanwhile, their colleague Charlie is behaving oddly, borrowing Mma Ramotswe's van and returning it in an unusual condition.Digging a little deeper, the explanation is both strange and extraordinary, and takes Charlie, along with Mma Ramotswe's husband, Mr J. L. B.Matekoni, on a hair-raising night-time expedition. In the end, Precious is reminded of the need to view a picture from every angle, to accept the imperfections in people and situations, and then find a solution - preferably over a delicious slice of her friend Mma Potokwani's fruit cake. 'Irresistible'The Times'Every page contains a gem of wit and insight'Scotsman